An estimated 56% of Olympic viewers are female, while 44% are male. Super Bowl viewership was almost the exact opposite, with its audience composed of 54% males and 46% females. While Nielsen reports that this is the most startling difference between the two audiences, a recent study goes further in breaking down the viewership differences by region, age and race. For instance, Nielsen found that ratings for both the Super Bowl and Olympics were highest among older viewers.

Can deeper analytics about viewership prove useful to marketers that may seek to target specific audiences within the mainstream viewership of global events like the Super Bowl and Olympics? For example, at what time and in what region might the 'Thank You, Moms' campaign resonate the best with P&G's target audience? While the Olympics are at the height of critical analysis, smaller properties might also prove wise to go a step further than the traditional broader demographic analysis and break down statistics based on a number of variables in order to optimize the potential return and aid sponsors in deciding which specific assets might prove to be most valuable for their given objectives.